[geofstro]

Have any of you guys tried Qobuz? A bit less choice than Spotify or MOG; but for €29 per month it's mostly flac.

Geoff

[geowak]

Have any of you guys tried Qobuz? A bit less choice than Spotify or MOG; but for €29 per month it's mostly flac.

Geoff

Hey Geoff

I have never heard of this in the USA. Can you give more details? Is this service out of France? Others here might also want to know...

[geowak]

To answer my own question  I see one place where there is some info and excitement about this site.
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/681335-goodbye-spotify-hello-qobuz.html

I will have to check it out further...

[geofstro]

Apologies for the late response. Yes it is out of France, so you have to be able to cope with French.

Here's the URL to subscribe to the flac streaming service:

http://www.qobuz.com/abonnement-streaming

Geoff

[Russtafarian]

I have been using MOG for a few months now. It allows me to try so many albums and I can buy those albums that I like. Does it change they way I listen to music "no" only the way I find new music.

I agree.  I was checking out the new Donald Fagan on MOG last night.  Playback was their PC player into a Emotiva DAC vis USB so the playback chain is pretty clean.  MOG allows me to assess the music, but still only hints at the potential SQ of a recording.  I liked what I heard from DF but was not blown away.  I'll eventually get it, but will wait for the next HDTracks promo code before pulling the trigger.

[wushuliu]

FYI, MOG is now available as a standalone desktop app for both win and mac. It sounds MUCH better than using browser, IMO.

re: Qobuz. That is way too expensive. That is an early adopter fee. They don't have a large enough library and going from 320k to lossless is not large enough of a jump to justify that price. On that forum link someone made a good point: for that money you could use MOG/Spotify, etc to find new music and use the left over money to actually buy what you like. Lossless is the future - especially once Google Fiber takes over - but until then...

[geowak]

Hey Wushuliu!

Thanks for the info on the MOG desktop app. I will be using it. BTW I have opted for the Iphone app, so I take MOG wherever I go (mostly in the car).

Also I have discovered the MOG app on my ROKU box. I can now stream in by the menu on my flatscreen LCD TV that is cabled into my DAC. This makes it easy to view the MOG menus from across the room. I can additionally also use one of two Pure I-20 docks I have connected to two HiFi systems I have in two different rooms.

For many out there, I am aware of the trade off of HQ sound for usability. But I guess that is what we all do, since I still carry my little Ipod to the gym as well.

The thing one can do with MOG that is great- you can listen to just about any artist, sample the music and if you really like it.. purchase the album or CD of your choice.

[jarcher]

Tried out MOG as a result of this thread, but one question to anyone whose running or has tried the free version : is the "free" version actually functional?  I tried it out, but quickly ran out of "free music" after listening to just a few albums.  The "meter" doesn't seem to grow or replenish with time - now I'm being asked to do things like spam friends, etc to "earn" more music. 

So : is the "free" version basically a limited "trial" version?  It's too bad because I was enjoying it, but 3 albums only approximately seems kinda lame.......

It may sound miserly, but there are a lot of free and $5 monthly music memberships out there competing, so want to make sure I understand the deal w/ MOG before deciding or moving on.

[TONEPUB]

I use Rhapsody, because it interfaces with my Sooloos, but the streaming thing has been great.  I'm probably buying a bit more music than before, but I'm buying a lot more KEEPERS as a result of getting to audition it first.

Big help as far as I'm concerned, whichever service you use.

[Tyson]

FYI, MOG is now available as a standalone desktop app for both win and mac. It sounds MUCH better than using browser, IMO.

re: Qobuz. That is way too expensive. That is an early adopter fee. They don't have a large enough library and going from 320k to lossless is not large enough of a jump to justify that price. On that forum link someone made a good point: for that money you could use MOG/Spotify, etc to find new music and use the left over money to actually buy what you like. Lossless is the future - especially once Google Fiber takes over - but until then...

Hey, thanks!  I just installed it and it does indeed sound better than the web player.  Still not as good as lossless FLAC files, but quite a bit closer.

[WC]

Tried out MOG as a result of this thread, but one question to anyone whose running or has tried the free version : is the "free" version actually functional?  I tried it out, but quickly ran out of "free music" after listening to just a few albums.  The "meter" doesn't seem to grow or replenish with time - now I'm being asked to do things like spam friends, etc to "earn" more music. 

So : is the "free" version basically a limited "trial" version?  It's too bad because I was enjoying it, but 3 albums only approximately seems kinda lame.......

It may sound miserly, but there are a lot of free and $5 monthly music memberships out there competing, so want to make sure I understand the deal w/ MOG before deciding or moving on.

The free version didn't work so well with me either. They had a 14 day free trial of the service that wasn't limited. If you only listen on a computer you could get by with a $5/month plan. Going up to the $10 a month plan allows for downloading to and access from mobile devices. Pricing is similar to other services.

[LA mitchell]

Is there a free-trail on Qobuz?  I couldn't understand it well enough to see a free-trial. 

What I did see looked VERY interesting though!

[ajzepp]

I've been using MOG for several months now and have enjoyed it tremendously. I find it a very worthwhile investment of $10/month. Like Geowak, I have been accessing my account via Roku in addition to my iPhone. The 320kbps sound quality is more than acceptable and I love the ability to quite literally listen to almost anything I want to hear within seconds of looking for it. Excellent service.

[geowak]

Just thinking....

Are HQ streaming sites, such as MOG and Spotify changing the way we listen to digital music? Much like the Sony CDP-101 did for the compact disc revolution and the Apple IPOD/ITUNES had for portable (and) home music systems?

I cannot believe how much HQ sound I am getting from MOG streaming into my ext DAC and through my stereo. And I can bring up many, many, many choices on my IPHONE and Squeezbox.

Your thoughts...

I do know there are many kinds of services and sites on the internet, which will give me more or less what
I want. I tried Pandora but hated the ads. I went with MOG a bit later, since at the time they offered an app for the ROKU box I have connected to my TV and offered an app for an Iphone I could start using straight away. On average 320 kbps was better than many sites and it sounded good to me.

Also I was spending about $20 a month on used CD's at the Record Exchange store that sells used CDs. So the $10 a month price for MOG was smart for me.

I will say the "fuel gauge" on the main menu of MOG for the free use is not very useful. One either listens to
the music MOG samples with your choices of music or you must submit to MOG various emails so that MOG can introduce their music service to others. This effort "fills you gas tank with free usage" I did not have much luck with the free service.

BTW if your are into paid downloads my friend uses a Russian site called Soundike.com. It offers .15 cents a song. He tells me that they have a very big collection. The download is a zip file that you have to unzip to use. I have not tried it since I usually just stream what I want to listen to.

[LA mitchell]

Such an awesome time for music-listening.  I haven't had this much fun listening to music in years

I went with MOG a bit later,  On average 320 kbps was better than many sites and it sounded good to me.

Also I was spending about $20 a month on used CD's at the Record Exchange store that sells used CDs. So the $10 a month price for MOG was smart for me.

To think I used to blow $17 on a CD back in the 1990's, and now for $5 I can listen to anything I want??  AND not have to worry about storage and lugging a bunch of CD's around trying not to get them scratched.

I'm guessing it's only gonna get better from here (ie. lossless streaming on mog one day) 

[persisting1]

This is a good find. Thanks geofstro.

Apologies for the late response. Yes it is out of France, so you have to be able to cope with French.

Here's the URL to subscribe to the flac streaming service:

http://www.qobuz.com/abonnement-streaming

Geoff

[persisting1]

Is there a free-trail on Qobuz?  I couldn't understand it well enough to see a free-trial. 

What I did see looked VERY interesting though!

You can change the language at the top right corner.

[JEaton]

I'm guessing it's only gonna get better from here (ie. lossless streaming on mog one day)

I'd be willing to bet that we never see a paid lossless streaming service. There's just too little demand for it. Audiophiles who would like such a service make up a tiny percentage of the market.

[lacro]

I am trying the "free" version of MOG which sucks! I am sure the paid version would be better. My first impression compared to the paid version of Pandora is it does NOT sound better at least on my modest nearfield system. The real biggie for me is the lack of artists compared to Pandora. I have 100 stations on my paid version of Pandora, and many of the artists are NOT available on MOG. I am sure they are adding music all the time, but for now I think Pandora has more choices.
 I do like all the ways to listen to what you want, favorites, playlists, etc. I will probably give the $5 month paid service a try, but I am not ready to dump Pandora anytime soon. The thing I like about Pandora is I just start listening to one of my stations (artist), and I will get a mix of similar artists which opens up more great music I have never heard before. I know MOG has a similar method of listening, but for now doesn't have anywhere near the selection.
 I tend to be the type of person that likes an individual track or two from an album, so having an ever changing playlist of never heard before tracks appeals to me. My favorites change frequently which is why I rarely ever bought CD's. Which service is best depends on what you are looking for. Using more than one is probably what I will do. I will give MOG a longer try, but for now I am not convinced it's the last word in streaming...
$.02
Larry

[lacro]

 I am trying to like this MOG thing, but it's getting more and more frustrating. The free version is used up in about 10 songs. Also, I am getting a hum during silent passages between songs?? Don't get this with Pandora. I downloaded the App because it was suggested the sound is better in this thread, but after a lengthy download I find I can't use the App till I upgrade to "PRIMO" I guess it's not available on the $5 plan?
 I wish they had a free trial for a week or so. I really want to try before I buy. If I can't get better sound and get rid of the hum, I will just move on. I had hoped the App would be the answer, but I can't try unless I buy. Maybe they already have more subscribers than they can handle, and are discouraging new ones till they catch up?